McConnell on funding turmoil: ‘Oh, this is the way it’s going to be next year’

Outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) quipped Wednesday evening that Republicans may be in for more turmoil next year after President-elect Trump threw the year-end spending debate into chaos by coming out against a stopgap spending bill negotiated by congressional leaders

“Oh, this is the way it’s going to be next year,” McConnell told a reporter for CNN as he walked out of his office shortly after Trump urged Republicans to sink the deal negotiated between Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other congressional leaders.

Senate Republicans are bracing for a roller-coaster year in 2025 with Trump in the White House and the next Speaker trying to manage a one- to three-seat House majority.

Trump appeared to torpedo the 1,500-page short-term funding bill that Congress was poised to pass by Friday when he and Vice President-elect Vance called on lawmakers to instead pass a clean continuing resolution combined with language to raise the debt ceiling.

Democratic senators expressed frustration over Trump’s late foray into the spending debate, only two days before the Dec. 20 deadline by which Congress needs to pass a stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown.

“Speaker Johnson needs to get it together. The American people are counting on us. This is not the Christmas present, the government shutdown, that the American people deserve,” said Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).

Some Republicans said they don’t see any chance that Democrats would agree to raising the debt limit, which is projected to expire next summer.

“I’m just thinking about if I were Schumer, just because somebody asked for something, if there wasn’t leverage or benefit to it, I don’t know why he would accept it,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

But other Republican senators said, in the event the deal negotiated by Johnson reached the Senate, they were prepared to vote against it, even though they want to pass some disaster relief before Christmas.

“I’ve got a better chance of actually supporting a clean CR than what we had before. I already told leadership that I would not vote for that bill,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), referring to the 1,500-page deal unveiled late Tuesday.

“I’m happy to see a clean CR as long as we can also include some supplemental [funds] for the folks down South that are in the flood area,” he added.

GOP senators on Wednesday said they’re eager to avoid a government shutdown right before Trump takes office.

“I think it would be master-class dumb to shut government down,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.).

Kennedy said he would vote for a clean stopgap measure to fund government into next year but argued that it should include disaster relief.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday evening said it’s “foolish” and “unrealistic” to expect them to agree to a debt-limit increase a few days before Christmas when there’s been no discussion of the issue until now.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called Trump’s demand “foolish” while Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called it “pretty unrealistic,” though he acknowledged it’s “above my pay grade.”

The party that doesn’t control the White House in recent years has demanded major concessions in exchange for raising the debt limit.

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